Total Eclipse of The Heart
by EmmyEeveeZorua
Summary: As a part of his plan for raising the Chamber of Strife, Descole hosts a masqureade ball to trap the residents of the town along with Layton and his pesky crew, also in attendance. But the man is unprepared for what takes place when he spends the ball with Layton's assistant, and what truths come out. Desuremi/Demmy. T for language.


**AN: So I decided to try writing some Desuremi, and wrote this. Kudos to Abitat Eco the Azran for Beta-Reading this!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Enjoy!**

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At the interior balcony of Aerith's Hall, Jean Descole stood, observing silently as his plan to raise the Chamber of Strife (a vault of Azran knowledge) began to fall into place. He had removed the buildings above the supposed area of the chamber, had abducted the people who had been unfortunate enough to stumble upon the plans, and even had built a robotic version of the town's local monstrosity, a large, demonic black raven named Letum that destroyed everything that shone in it's path. The only thing he had to do now was force Aerith's Hall to sink into the earth to force the chamber to rise.

But then someone in the town had contacted Layton, and the top-hatted-menace, unable to ignore someone in need, had come, taking his assistant and apprentice along with. The professor and company had poked their noses in many places they had not belonged, and from the information they had amassed, Layton had concluded that Letum's latest appearance would occur at the Hall, during the ball that had been set up to contain the townsfolk while the chamber rose and the Hall sank. Naturally, Descole had adjusted his plan to account for Layton's interference, and had decided to outright invite Layton to the ball. Hopefully when Aerith's Hall sank, it would immobilize the pesky Professor for sometime, maybe even hospitalize him and his posse.

To ensure this, Descole would attend the dance himself, disguised. But not in his normal disguise. Layton might have been oblivious to many things, but the masked man knew that Layton would never gloss over seeing his nemesis at a masked ball. So instead, he would be wearing a black tuxedo, an ebony domino half-mask, polished black dress shoes, and an ivory bow tie, courtesy of Raymond.

_Bong! Bong! Bong! _The colossal clock behind Descole struck six, signaling the start of the ball. Sure enough, a trickle of partygoers started to enter the hall, including Layton, identifiable by the top hat he always wore. The moment the masked spotted his opponent, he stiffened. It was time for the puzzling pieces of his plan to fall into place, one after the other.

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Aerith's Hall was packed by 6:30, and during that time, Descole had been successfully tailing Layton among the brightly colored guests and decorations. The top-hatted professor hadn't noticed him among the many people there, and since he was busy talking to his annoying apprentice most of the time, it was much easier than he had originally planned. Slipping through two ornately dressed women, the masked man followed Layton to the many tables of food lined up near the back of the Hall. He rolled his eyes; of course Little Boy Blue would head for the snacks. It seemed that his appetite was boundless, and would probably keep the duo occupied for a while. Satisfied, he turned around, ready to devote his attention to his plans now that the major threat was subdued.

"Ow!" "Argh!" Both Descole and the young woman he had walked into instinctively covered their faces with their hands. "What was that for?" the woman demanded, her anger obvious in her voice.

"Didn't you watch where you were going?" The man replied, calmly as he could with the throbbing spot on his head angering him.

"Wait, do not answer that. The answer is quite obvious. I, for one, was a bit busy thinking about something very important to me!" he said, his voice oozing a poisonus calm. "How come you weren't watching where _you_ were going?"

The young woman blinked at the remark and clenched her fists, but unclenched them as she looked at her feet.

"I wasn't paying attention," she admitted. "But unlike you, I have a life saving reason. My employer and I are looking for the mastermind behind the recent attacks of Letum." He felt a cold rush followed by a splash of warmth go through him as he realized whom he was talking to, and the fact that he had forgotten to account for Altava, but quickly regained his composure.

"So you're working with Professor Layton?" Descole said smoothly, hoping she didn't notice his momentarily pause.

"Yes, I am," Emmy said proudly, smoothing out her dark red dress and re-adjusting her similarly colored mask, causing the glitter to sparkle slightly. "It's quite nice."

"Is it now?" the masked man said, racking his brain for a way to subdue Altava despite the cloudy feeling in his head. "It is," she said, happiness present in her voice.

"The Professor is extremely nice, and it's a pretty decent job. It's better than what I could have been." It was around this moment that Descole found the perfect idea to ensure Altava wouldn't interfere. Why had he not thought of it earlier?

"Miss Altava, I know this abrupt, but would you like to dance?" She looked at him in surprise, then smiled shyly. "Even though we just fought? But you seem to be te type who does not hold a grudge for trivial things like that. Certainly, Mr.-?"

"Mr. Platane." he answered at once, taking her gloved hand in his own.

"So, Mr. Platane," Emmy replied, allowing herself to be led onto the dance floor. "What might you be doing at this ball?"

"I'm here to see the wonderful history this town to has to offer. Did you hear their might be Azran ruins under the town?" Descole hadn't been lying; the town did have an interesting past, but he couldn't risk Altava finding out about his plans. Wrapping his arm around her waist, he gently began to dance with her, guiding her slowly around the dance floor.

They moved gracefully with each other, with him holding her hand and waist, and with her gripping his hand and shoulder. The couple drifted along, eyes on each other the entire time, slipping in-between other couples in the hall, and contined in this manner for some time

"This is quite nice," the young woman remarked as she and her partner glided across the floor. "It really is, Miss Altava," Descole answered, gazing at her through his mask. "You can call me Emmy, Mr. Platane." Emmy beamed under her mask. "You don't need to be so formal with me."

"Um, thank you, Mi- er, Emmy. I'm enjoying this as well." In time the soft music playing in the background, he twirled her around in a small circle once more, her dress billowing out with the motion, then gripped her wrist again. "You're a very good dancer, you know," Emmy noted, closing off a bit of the small gap between them, causing the older man to blush slightly. He was honestly enjoying this one dance with Emmy much more then he had realized. In fact, it was the few good things to have happened to him in the past few months. Why, if he didn't know any better, he would say that he was in _love_ with her.

The moment the thought entered his mind, he almost froze in his tracks, only keeping himself upright by holding onto his partner. No, it was impossible. He couldn't be in love with Layton's assistant, but yet... It would explain why he couldn't help feeling a rush of warmth whenever he saw or thought about her, why he tended to think of her when he was upset or furious, and why he could never bring himself to harm her. If it had been a different woman, he most likely would have shoved her in a closet to keep her from interfering. But with Emmy Altava, he had instead asked her to dance with him in order to ensure she wouldn't interfere. Could he really be in love with her?

"Mr. Platane? Are you alright?" Emmy was looking at him with what he perceived to be worry from what he could see of her concealed face. "I'm fine, Emmy. I just thought of something I'd like to show you," he proposed, offering her his hand. "Really?"

She smiled at him, curiosity in her voice. "What is it?" "It's something better shown than explained," Descole replied. "So would you like to see it?" She took his hand, and once again allowed him to lead her, this time off the dance floor. "Yes, I would very much like to see it, Mr., if you'll be so kind to take me there." "Since you asked so nicely, I will take you there, Emmy," Descole replied. "But if it makes you feel any better, I would of taken you there regardless."

"Lead the way, Mr. Platane." And so he led the girl through the labyrinth of people, up the flights of stairs to the third floor of the hall, and past several closed doors, until they arrived at a door close to the window near the end of the building. "Are you ready?" The man asked his companion, who nodded her head in anticipation.

"Here it is..." Descole opened the door, revealing a small room decorated with colorful stained glass windows depicting scenes from myths and stories from around the world, the moonlight shining through only making the scenes even more fantastic. Adding to the splendor was the golden chandelier hanging from the middle of the ceiling, casting a golden glow in the room.

"Ohhh," Emmy gasped, taking in the beauty of the room. "It's beautiful. I can't describe the feeling of seeing this room... It's that wonderful."

"So you like it?" Descole smiled as he watched her reaction to the glass room. He had reacted in a similar way, simply staring at the splendor of the room for hours on end. She hugged him tightly, and said.

"Mr. Platane, thank you for bringing me here. It's just been wonderful seeing this."

"I figured you'd like this. It seemed like something you'd enjoy seeing. I am also hoping you will also enjoy what I'd like to tell you. Miss Altava, I've only said the following words to one person. Now that I am actually saying this out loud, I think I might be just the tiniest bit nervous. Me, nervous! Anyway, Miss Altava… Please don't be alarmed or freak out, but knowing you, I highly doubt you will, but I still worry. I believe I'm in love you."

Emmy blinked, and then laughed, a lovely, clear sound that made Descole's heart skip a beat. Ok, a lot of beats.

"You must be joking!" she said, smiling her pretty smile, which vanished once she saw the wounded look on his face.

"Miss Altava, I am not joking in the slightest," Descole said, trying to keep the hurt out of his voice (that didn't happen often). Moving slowly, he walked to Emmy and tried to wrap his arms around her. "I'm head over heels in love with you. I have been for a very long time."

"You what?!" She let go of him, and pushed him away, horror written on her pretty face. "How?! We just met! Are you an ex of mine, or are just you a stalker of some sort?" Descole felt himself go red in his face at the accusations.

"How dare you acuse me of doing such things!" he growled. "Well, how else do you know me?" Emmy shot back, her hands on her hips. Then she went white with shock. "No. No. NO!" she shouted, backing away from the masked man. "You're him! You're Descole!"

_Well, shit. _That was the first thought that entered Descole's mind at the moment of Emmy's realization.

"Miss Altava, I-"

"You what?! Led me up here to do who-knows-what to me?!" she yelled at him, all formality gone, her rage surfacing and showing itself with all its terrible glory.

"I wasn't going to do anything to you!" he retaliated, stepping forward towards Emmy. "I just wanted to keep you out of the way! I didn'twant you to get injured!"

"Injured? By what?" Emmy snapped, narrowing her eyes under her mask. "What are you planning?"

_BOOM!_ A loud noise resonated throughout the whole of Aerith's Hall, causing the two to stop in the middle of their arguement.

"What was that?" the young woman asked, whirling around to face the door. "It's proabably something of your doing, isn't it! I've got to go help the Professor!" Emmy ran over to the door and was about to rip it open, but was stopped when Descole grabbed her wrist and attmpted to wrench her away from the door.

"Calm down!" he said, attempting to grasp her other arm as she wildly flailed about, desperate to escape. "You are going to hurt yourself!"

"That's rich! Telling me to calm down when you're responsible for what is about to happen here!" Emmy yelled, trying to aim for a sensitive spot in Descole's anatomy to froce him to let her go. "Who the hell does that? And why the fucking confession? Another part of your 'master plan'?"

"It wasn't a part of my plan!" the masked man howled, pulling harder at Emmy as she strained and flailed to get away. "It was the honest truth! It was no lie whatsoever! I promise this on my honor!

"Yeah right!" she screamed in his direction, too focused on freedom and the safety of her friends to look at him. "You are a master of illusion! It is nothing but a lie! A gruesome, distateful lie, spoken only to gain my trust! And you want to know the worst part? You want to know? I fell for it! I fucking fell for it! What honor?! You are nothing but a liar! A pathetic, worthless liar who will do anyhting to satisfy his lust and desires!"

"It. Was. Not. A. Fucking. Lie!" he screamed, the sudden surge of rage allowing him to overpower Emmy and pull her close to him, her still fighting to escape. "I really do love you, whether you believe me or not! I LOVE YOU!" And to seal that outburst off, he gave her a passionate kiss, causing the woman yo freeze at both the touch and the action.

"Wha- What?" she uttered. "What the hell? Why did you do tha- Hey!" Descole shoved her behind him, and bolted for the door, locking it behind him.

"Let me out, you bastard!" she screamed, throughing herself at it with her entire weight. "Unlock this door and face me! Do not hide behind that stupid mask like you always do!"

"I'm sorry, Miss Altava," the masked man spoke this line with an unatural calm. "But it's for your own good." He tore down the hallway, leaving the sounds of Emmy Altava throwing herself at the locked door, still shouting at him, desperate to escape, behind him.

Having reached the main balcony, Descole leaped up to the railing, balancing on it like he had done so many times before in his life before this moment, observing the chaos he had created with a wicked grin. The grin grew even more dasterdly when the man of mystery spotted a familiar black hat alongside a familiar blue cap.

"Descole!" Layton shouted above the din of the confused partygoers, Luke right behind his mentor. "What is the meaning of all of this?" He tried to brush aside some frantic children, and was alomost swallowed up by the crowd.

"Yeah, what could you possibly gain?" Luke chimed in, narrowly avoiding being squashed by a large woman in a red dress clutching a brown poodle. "And what have you done with Emmy?"

"Your assistant is fine, and I promise- on my honor- that she has not been harmed," Descole drawled.

"Yeah, right!" Luke cried out. "You are nothing but a liar, Descole! You have done something awful to her, haven't you?!" _You are nothing but a liar_. The memory of Emmy's words hit Descole as though someone had thrown a brick at him and it had hit the stomach.

"She is safe, and will not be harmed by what is to come. Luke Triton, that is my promise to you," After uttering those words, he lept up to the rafters with the aid of a well-hidden cable, and escaped to the roof and to his treasure, as Aerith's Hall sank into the soft earth, entombing all of Aerith's Hall. Well, almost all of the Hall. The only room left above ground had been the stained glass room, it's captive of a person's love safe inside.

* * *

_"Raymond, I thought we needed to obtain the Chamber of Strife at all costs, and we did. But I also though it didn't matter who we hurt. And it didn't -at first. I couldn't of cared less about the townspeople injured trying to escape, and I was enraged beyond imagination when Layton and Triton came out unscathed- I was hoping they would be hospitalised for more than a few weeks in what the papers dub "_The Second Death of Aerith_". But when I saw Miss Altava being released from the stained glassroom, tears flowing down her pretty face, I felt something strange, something I have not felt for many years after that horrible incident. I felt love, Raymond, and it is a wonderful feeling. I relished in that feeling, I let it flow through me like a wild ocean wave. I thought it would not hurt to do so. I was wrong. I was so stupid, so very, very stupid. I regret what I have done to Miss Emmy Altava. But it is too late now. She will not ever be able to face her true feelings for me, at least not while I am like this. But soon, I can love her without her fearing, and trying to hurt me, and I will not have to worry about her. My scars can heal, and I can be with the one I love, whether she return the feelings or not. I just do not understand this one thing, just that one small thing._

_ "Raymond, has love always been this painful?"_

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**AN: Is it just me, or does every single Desuremi/Demmy oneshot that I've written begin with the letter "T"?**


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